


Lockdown

by imaginarypasta



Series: DP Side Hoes Week 2020 [5]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: ghost shield, side hoes week, tw for a lockdown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:00:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,363
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23228284
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginarypasta/pseuds/imaginarypasta
Summary: Star and her classmates are stuck inside school during a lockdown.DP Side Hoes Week Day 5 (Star/Trapped)
Series: DP Side Hoes Week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1668535
Comments: 7
Kudos: 109





	Lockdown

**Author's Note:**

> lmao we under quarantine babey you know i’m writing them stuck in somewhere
> 
> also, sorry about any typos & stuff. i’m not used to writing on my phone

Lockdowns were not the most common thing in Amity Park. More frequent were desperate mass evacuations to avoid the ectoblasts of dueling ghosts or buildings on the verge of crashing down. When they did happen, they were always accompanied by a ghost shield. 

Star liked the ghost shields. Not because of safety or security or anything. No, they filled the place they protected with a nice green glow that reminded her of the teen movies she’d grown up watching, the ones she expected her teenage years to be like. And she knew it wasn’t the ghosts’ fault they weren’t what she’d hoped for, but they definitely _weren’t_ making things better. More _exciting_ , sure, but Star hadn’t cared for excitement in a long time. She was tired of it. Ghosts never seemed to get bored of doing the same thing over and over, though. She wondered if that was just a symptom of existing eternally.

Mr. Lancer had left the room to go check for stragglers in the halls. The Fentons were alleged to show up soon, but Star didn’t really know how much help they’d be if a ghost was attacking. That’s what she didn’t like, the uncertainty. She didn’t know if she would be forced to worry or not, and that took a lot out of her.

Their son was behind her, speaking in hushed tones to his friends. She considered that he might have some idea of what was going on. Star, despite having a certain talent in it, was never really interested in eavesdropping, but now seemed like a good time to do it. Her only other friend in the class, Valerie, was pressed up against the window, eagerly watching for ghosts, and it didn’t seem like she’d had much success so far. For someone who supposedly hated ghosts, she sure was obsessed with them. 

“I can’t leave,” Fenton was saying. “They’ve upgraded the shield since last time. Nothing with an ecto-signature can get through.”

Star wondered what the Fentons were doing that left their kids so exposed to ectoplasm they had ecto-signatures. From what they’d said at school safety assemblies, it seemed like you needed a lot of ectoplasm for that to happen. More importantly, she wondered why they’d make a shield their own kids couldn’t get through. Maybe they were just really strict about curfew. 

“Hey, Fenton,” she said carefully, turning around. Foley and Manson were on either side of him, and all three gave her an incredulous look as she acknowledged them. She stopped herself from glaring back.

“What’s up, Star?” he asked. 

“I was just wondering if you knew what was going on at all?” she asked. Valerie’s ears perked up from her spot at the window and she began to walk over. 

“Why would Danny know that?” Manson demanded. Star rolled her eyes at how quickly she got defensive. So quick to anger, that one. 

She responded like Danny had been the one to ask and he hadn’t done it so rudely. “Because your parents are the ones out there, right?” Valerie slid into her seat beside Star and pretended to read a book.

Danny stared at her for a while and only responded when Foley finally kicked him in the shin. “Uh, yeah, they are, but I don’t really know.” 

She glanced down at his fingers drumming on the desk, long enough that he noticed and pulled them to his lap. “Well, thanks anyway.”

Manson whispered to him as soon as Star turned her back. “Maybe you should just go into the halls and check if everything is all right.”

“Yeah, okay,” he responded. “Tuck, you wanna try to work on this in the meantime?” 

“No,” Foley said, but Star suspected his mad typing on his laptop keyboard meant he was already working on whatever Fenton had asked of him.

Valerie noticed Fenton was moving before Star even realized he had walked halfway across the classroom. She’d snuck between the desks and stood in front of him, stopping him in place.

“Um, can I get through?” he asked her playfully.

“Lancer said to stay here, Danny.”

“I have to go to the bathroom.”

“Not right now you don’t. We’re in lockdown. Use the emergency bin if you have to.”

He grimaced at her. “No thanks.”

She grabbed his wrist as he tried to push past her. “It’s dangerous out there.” Star admonished Valerie in her head for still being so into him. It had been forever since they broke up. This was getting sad. 

“I’ll be fine,” he said seriously, and Valerie let him go.

“Val,” she said as her friend returned to the seat beside her. “Babe, I know you used to date but—”

“It’s not like that, Star.”

“So you’ve said. But you clearly really care about him.”

“Yeah,” Valerie responded. “Because he’s my friend. I’d care if you were trying to leave, too.”

“Aww, Valerie,” Star cooed. She couldn’t convince Valerie right now, she guessed, since she seemed to believe it so stubbornly. 

Fenton walked to the door, but stopped in his tracks as it opened. A green sheet covered the doorway. There were secondary shields on each of the classrooms. Star silently praised the Fentons for having such foresight. He immediately closed the door and returned.

“What’s wrong?” Valerie asked.

“Hmm? Oh, I don’t have to go anymore,” he answered noncommittally. She narrowed her eyes at him and stood. “I’m not peeing in the bucket, Valerie. I’ll wait.”

Valerie smirked at him and unzipped her backpack. “Care to join Star and me in a game?” 

Star turned to face her friend, who dropped a deck of cards on her desk. She pulled her own desk close in the start of a circle.

"You all will be destroyed," Manson said seriously as she moved her own desk.

Ten minutes and two overwhelming defeats later, Star was ready to give up. She was saved only by Mr. Lancer opening the door and leading about a dozen students through the opening.

“Just go ahead and find a spot wherever you can,” he said to them, and then addressed the whole class. “Try to keep it quiet, everybody.” He cracked open a book, and as soon as his eyes were off them, the class erupted into chatter. 

It didn’t take long for Jazz Fenton to find a spot on the floor next to her brother. Star raised an eyebrow; she wondered how Jazz had gotten through the shield on the door if she had an ecto-signature like her brother. She sincerely hoped for her own sake that this was not an old model of the ghost shield. 

“Did you get a good look at what’s happening, Jazz?” Manson asked automatically.

“No,” she sighed. “The alarms went off so we all came straight in from lunch.” 

“You don’t know who it is?” Fenton asked.

Jazz shook her head. “No, but Mr. Lancer said Mom and Dad are here.”

“Right, and they’ll totally handle it,” Manson grumbled. Foley kicked her in the shin. “ _What_?” she hissed.

“Jeeze, Sam, they’re not _that_ incompetent,” Danny protested.

“I’m sure Phantom will show up soon,” Star said to them with a soft smile. “He’ll make sure your parents are okay.”

“Thanks,” Jazz smiled, although it seemed a bit artificial. Her brother and his friends didn’t look as pleased. 

“Or he won’t,” Valerie said.

“ _Valerie_ , oh my God!” Star squeaked. She lowered her voice, even though she was pretty sure they could still hear her. “They’re worried about their parents. Not the time.” 

Star loved Valerie to death, but she could be a little bullheaded at times. Especially when it came to ghosts. And Phantom was her least favorite. She always said that the other ghosts were at least truthful with their intentions.

“Sorry,” Valerie said, voice stale. “I’m sure Phantom… is a good ghost, actually. Minus all the property damage. And will save your parents. Who want to kill him.”

“Thanks anyway, Val,” Danny said. She knew he and Valerie were pretty close, although not many people shared her opinions about ghosts, present parties seemingly included. At least he didn’t hate her for it like his friends seemed to, but she guessed he did already get the same sentiment from his parents. 

“Has Tucker—” Jazz began.

“Before you ask,” Foley interrupted. “Yes. And no, I have not had any success. It seems like your parents took it all _off_ line. Which is great.” He sounded sarcastic, so he added, “Safer.” 

“Are you trying to take the shield down?” Star asked hesitantly.

All four of them responded at once. 

“No,” Danny and Jazz said together. 

“He’s an anarchist,” Sam said.

“I’m claustrophobic,” Tucker said. 

Star and Valerie raised their eyebrows.

“That doesn’t make any sense, Tucker,” Sam whispered. “It’s around the school, not just you.”

“Well, no one would believe I’m an anarchist, Sam,” Tucker responded. 

“Guys,” Danny cut in.

“Danny and I just like to test the equipment before they use it,” Jazz explained quickly, evenly. “They can be a little narrow-minded when it comes to these things. This is the first chance we’ve had to test the new shield. Tucker’s helping.”

Valerie opened her mouth to ask a question, but Jazz continued. 

“I know. But it would kill them if they thought their own kids didn’t trust them. And it’s not like that. We just want to make sure everything is perfect.”

Though it seemed a bit unconventional, Star believed them. Their whole family was unconventional anyway. 

“No, I get it,” she said. “My parents bought us a computer a few months ago with a webcam. I totally covered it in tape like the second it came out of the box.”

Jazz smiled kindly at her; this one seemed a bit more genuine.

“Smart move,” Foley said, spinning his laptop around to show her the taped-over webcam. He closed out the tab he was on and she saw his background was a photo of him, Sam, and Phantom. With Icees, for some reason.

“Oh, I didn’t know Phantom did photos,” Star said. “He always leaves so quickly after the fights. I’d love a picture with him.”

“Of course you would,” Valerie mumbled. “Why not?”

Star ignored her. “I guess I always thought ghosts wouldn’t show up in pictures.”

The trio was quiet, so Jazz supplied, “Yeah, that’s what our parents thought too, for a while. We can only sometimes get them. Still don’t know if it’s about intention or time of day or what.”

“And the Icees?” she laughed.

Again, they were silent, until Sam said, “I mean, he’s saved our life so many times. It’s the least we could do.”

“Can ghosts eat?” she asked Jazz, head cocked to the side.

“Oh, um, I don’t actually know,” she said. “I only know what I hear pieces of during dinner and stuff. I bet you can ask them at their next presentation or something, though.”

“I’d doubt it,” Valerie said. 

Star and Manson both rolled their eyes, but stopped when she explained. “They don’t have digestive tracts, since they’re just made of ectoplasm. Anything they eat would just mix in with it. So, they could consume technically, but it would probably just melt slowly. Kinda how stuff just burns up when ectoplasm gets on it.”

“That sounds like a good hypothesis,” Danny said quietly. Valerie gave him a small smile. Star couldn’t help but beam at her best friend’s smarts.

“Wow, Val,” she said. “Maybe you should study ghosts in the future.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Valerie said. She hated ghosts, but she definitely knew a lot about them. They were something she was passionate about, just perhaps not in the most productive way.

“You’d be good at it,” Danny said. Tucker kicked him in the shin. “ _Dude_ , what?”

Star thought exactly two things at that moment. The first was that Foley did that a lot, and that Fenton and Manson must have pretty bruised legs because of it. She supposed he had good reason, though, if this conversation was any indication.

The second was that Danny might still have feelings for Valerie too. They seemed to like each other a lot when they dated, and neither ever mentioned why they broke up. Plus, they still seemed to be close friends. In a sudden change of heart, she silently hoped they would get back together. 

Something smacked the green-tinted window on the wall and someone screamed in response. “Keep it down,” Mr. Lancer called out, but didn’t look up. Star did, though, and saw a thick clump of mud sticking to the window. It slid down just a little, and she could see the blotchy brown trail above it. About ten more uprooted bushes came barreling toward the window, all falling helplessly against it but leaving a mess where they hit. 

And then came the tree. 

It was huge, and Star knew instantly it was one of the big ones out in front of the school. One of the really old ones whose roots had pushed all the cement on the sidewalks out of place years ago. It pushed through the glass, not stopped by the shield of course, and left shattered remains all around their feet. Branches and leaves stuck through the broken windows. A few students had been hit by it and fell helplessly to the ground.

“Everybody out!” Mr. Lancer called. “Get to the hallways!”

“You have to find an exit,” Manson whispered to Danny. She was quiet, but Star had good ears. Not that she cared right now.

She was busy rushing over to the bodies, checking for a pulse, for breathing, for everything her first aid training had taught her to do. It was one of the first things she’d done after the ghost attacks started and she’d realized they weren’t stopping anytime soon. 

When she finally looked up, she noticed Jazz Fenton and Mr. Lancer doing the same thing she was, checking on people and doing what they could to help. The room had otherwise cleared out. They both gave her a determined nod and Mr. Lancer slid her a first aid kit from where he was. 

She got to work. 


End file.
